your hand in mine
by abbyli
Summary: "Oh, and if you ever hurt her, you do not want to know what I will do to you." And with that, the Original slinks away with the grace of a cat, leaving the Salvatore behind. damon/april, rebekah/april friendship a.u.


_**your hand in mine**_

* * *

**a/n: From what I am gathering from spoilers, Bonnie and Kol are on the first steps to having at least an actual scene together! I am still a hardcore Bamon shipper but if Kennett happens, I will be equally as happy. But I am really starting to like Damon and April even though they have no possibility of happening, kind of how I really like Elena and Tyler. It does look like we are going to get an Rebekah/Matt/April triangle though, so that ought to be odd and interesting all rolled up into one. **

**Anyway, this oneshot was born out of boredom. Title is from the beautiful song 'Feel This' by Enation. Enjoy!**

* * *

She never really met Damon Salvatore until one late night in a bar. Rebekah had called her and asked her to come pick her up as due to the truck load of alcohol that she had consumed. She was kind of afraid that she would wrap herself around a tree or try to rip out someone's jugular. It was one or the other.

Well, she didn't really want to go pick up her inebriated friend but what kind of choice did she have?

And she found her perched at the bar, her sixty-third bourbon in her hand, and her free arm wrapped lazily around the neck of one Damon Salvatore.

"R-rebekah?"

Really? Did she have to sound like a wimp now?

"Ah, there she is! That's my girl!" Rebekah cries out when she sees her. She takes a clumsy leap off of her stool, stumbles but is caught by April's arms. She throws her arm around April's shoulder, turning them both to face Damon. "Damon, have you met my friend April? She's the one who pulled the dagger out of my chest after my dear brother and your dear brother locked me in that coffin."

"Rebekah!" April was scandalized. That's it, she was dead. Damon was either going to pull her heart out of her chest or drain her dry. Either one or maybe even both.

"It's okay, Apey girl. Damon's cool. Aren't you, Damon?" Her wobbly knees finally gave out, finally pulling both girls down.

"Oof! Did you drink the whole bar, Rebekah?"

"Come on, let me help you," comes another voice. She finds herself and the quite heavy blonde being pulled upright and then she is lost in a pair of icy blue eyes.

"You really don't have too," she mumbles, absolutely terrified. More terrified than she had ever been.

"I am not going to hurt you, April," Damon says, quite firmly. Those few words manage to get the tiny brunette's wits about her and she believes him.

"Okay. Thanks."

And together, the two manage to get the totally piss-faced Original out to April's car and buckled in.

"I didn't know vampires could get smashed," she says once she shuts the passenger's door.

"It depends," Damon replies. "It takes quite a lot because our bodies can handle alcohol better than yours can. But yeah, we can get drunk. Me, I'm a mean drunk. Luckily, Rebekah's a happy giggly drunk with a big blabbermouth."

The fear starts to take over once again. "She's my friend, Damon," April says, trying to stand her ground. "I wasn't going to leave her in there."

"I know," Damon says. "I get that."

"Then why are you doing this?!" The words escape her faster than she can control them. "I've seen that she can be a kind, considerate person. She's crazy about Matt and loves her family-"

"Because she killed Elena!"

That gets her to shut up. No one had told her that, not even Rebekah.

"What?" her voice is so damn tiny. God, will she ever stop sounding so afraid?

"Elena and Matt were driving back into Mystic Falls when we all thought we were going to die and she ran them off the road," Damon blatantly put down. "She made sure Elena drowned and became a vampire so Alaric Saltzman would die."

She remembered Elena telling her about Alaric and how he was the closest thing she had had to a father in quite some time. She also remembered thinking how lucky the Gilbert girl was, having all of those parents that would do anything for her, unlike her own father who had shipped her off to boarding school.

Like he had read her mind, he quotes those exact words. "You're lucky your father put you in boarding school. You got to evade all of this bullshit."

And with that, the Salvatore disappears into the dark.

**/**

She doesn't speak to Rebekah for almost a week after that. It isn't until Rebekah does tell her the whole story that she fully understands.

And it doesn't make her any less angry at the Salvatore.

"Is he always this big of a dick?!"

Her friend's eyebrows threaten to disappear into her hair. "Whoa, April. Calm down there, girl."

"I'm sorry," she apologizes quickly. "It's just that...damn it, he pissed me off. He blatantly told me all that crap about you like he was hoping that it would get me to hate you or something."

"Well, his whole world revolves around Elena Vampire Doppelganger Gilbert. He doesn't really give a damn about his brother or his 'friends'," says the Original.

"I'm not surprised," April adds softly, leaning back into the cushions of the sofa.

Why did this vampire bug her so much?

**/**

She sees him walk away from Elena.

Elena would never stop loving Stefan, even if he began to move on from her. She sees Stefan in the company of Caroline Forbes quite a bit after several weeks and also the big bad Original hybrid slinking after them.

"It's a whole new triangle, April," Rebekah chuckles. "But I actually kind of like Caroline. She's better for Stefan than that doppelganger wench ever was."

April lets out a small laugh. "And where does that leave Damon in all of this?" she wonders aloud.

"Alone once again."

**/**

So she begins finding him at the Grille about once a week.

The first time she sees him there, she's terrified. After learning about him dumping Elena right on her ass, she knows that he will be moody and even blood thirsty.

Stop it, April!

She commands herself to calm down and to just go take his order. She knows that he won't do anything stupid here in public. And she's chock full of vervain so he wouldn't be able to compel her. She's only been compelled once and she never wants to be again.

"What can I get you, Damon?" she asks politely, approaching his small table.

"Just coffee," he answers, not looking at her. "Thanks."

"Absolutely."

And with that, she turns and leaves, returning behind the counter where Matt is brewing a fresh pot of coffee.

"What's up with Damon?" Matt whispers lowly.

"He's moody and depressed," she says carefully.

"I still can't believe he dumped Elena. I would have thought it would have been the other way around with how wishy-washy she is," Matt says.

"Well, Stefan doesn't want her anymore," April says. "He wants Caroline and he is swept up in a whole other triangle which will probably turn into a square once again. I think big brother needs a break."

**/**

"Why are you so nice to me?"

The question startles her so much that she almost dumps hot coffee all over him.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I have been coming in here for the past three weeks, ordering nothing but coffee and you have treated me like any other customer. Shouldn't that-"

That's it. She can't take it anymore.

"I think you are a prick," April snarls low enough that only he can hear her. "And to tell you the honest truth though, I feel sorry for you." With that, she sets the whole pot of coffee down on his table and stalks back behind the counter.

**/**

She's not surprised to find him by her car when she leaves that night.

"Seriously?"

"Why aren't you afraid of me anymore?" he asks, leaning against the hood of her Chevy. "When we first met, you couldn't look me in the eye. Why aren't you afraid of me?!" He sounds almost angry at her.

"What did I ever do to you, Damon?" April shoots back. "I am a nice person and I try to keep to myself but when I almost get eaten by vampires, it's kind of hard not to get a little backbone. My best friend's an Original for God's sakes!"

She sees his eyes widen ever so slightly before he relaxes. "All right, Young."

She blinks and he's gone.

**/**

"What's with April? She's not that quiet little pixie that she was when she first moved back here."

"She's had a few run-ins with Damon. Not to mention that Rebekah Mikaelsen is her closest friend."

"Oddly enough, I think maybe April and Damon may have something there. At least she didn't love Stefan first."

**/**

"Seriously? I'm starting to regret inviting you in that one time."

He's perched on the end of her bed, a book in his hand. She recognizes it as her copy of _Wuthering Heights. _

"That's what you get when you don't know nothing," he mumbles, not looking up from the passage he is reading.

"Why are you here, Damon?" April asks slowly, setting her bag down on the armchair. Her eyes dart to the bookshelf to where two stakes are hidden but she wouldn't be surprised if he had found them while rooting around.

"I was bored. I needed someone new to torment."

She rolls her eyes, slinking carefully over to the bed and snatching the book away from him.

"Go torment Hailey or somebody. I'm tired and I want to get some sleep."

"Well, well, well. Aren't we a fiery little piece of work? When you first moved here, you were scared of your own shadow," Damon chuckles, taking the book back from her. "You're a little firecracker now, even contemplating trying to stake me with these." And he holds up the two stakes.

Damn.

"I've had too much experience in a short time with vampires," April replies scathingly. "Now, please give me back that book!"

"Honestly? You're going to fight me for the book instead of the stakes?" He holds the book high above her head, much farther than her tiny body could ever jump up to reach.

"I know you're not going to hurt me, probably, and I want my book back!"

And for the first time, she hears him laugh. It's a laugh unlike any other that she had heard before, soft and lilting with a sparkle to his ice eyes.

Is the ice in those eyes beginning to melt?

"All right, all right, all right. Here's your book," he gives in after a moment, handing her back the hardcover. She glances down and sees that it's an edition of Harry Potter.

"Wha-Damon Salvatore!"

He's gone, leaving her wrapped in that warm chuckle that she could definitely start to adore.

**/**

"'The moors and I will never change. Don't you, Cathy.'"

The book is lightly plopped down on the table in front of her, the title blazing. She looks up to see the raven haired vampire watching her, his expression softer than she had ever seen it.

"What?"

"Think about that," he says before turning on his heel and starting to walk away. But then, he stops, looking over his shoulder. "Oh, and April?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you still have that little red number you wore at the Miss Mystic Falls contest?"

And then he leaves, leaving her there stewing in annoyance and also slightly turned on.

**/**

"I would never ask you to change," she whispers as they walk slowly down the boardwalk. "I'm here because I want to be. Because-because I think we are one in the same."

**/**

"Are you falling in love with Damon?"

Her head shoots up to see Elena Gilbert glaring viciously at her from across the countertop, her eyes hard.

"Elena! What-?"

"Answer the question, April. Are you in love with Damon?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees the raven haired vampire in question slowly enter the Grille, his ears perking up at the mention of his name. He freezes when he sees the two girls.

"How is it any of your business, Elena?" April answers carefully. "He broke up with you."

"But he's my soulmate," Elena says lamely, her eyes suddenly softening and filling with tears. "He's-"

And then she gets it. April gets it. She's not stupid.

"They're moving on, Elena," she says quietly, gently touching the young vampire's shoulder. "Let them be happy."

**/**

"You didn't answer Elena's question."

"What?" Her mind is elsewhere as she puts on her coat, not even really aware of the vampire beside her.

"Are you in love with me?"

That brings her back to Earth.

Despite being only five feet tall, April finds herself staring right into Damon's eyes. "You're not in love with me, Salvatore. Why would I be in love with you?"

And with that, she stalks out of the closing down Grille, leaving the vampire in her wake.

**/**

"I had a father who didn't want me. He liked my brother more. My mother died bringing my brother into this world. The woman I loved wanted Stefan more, Elena wanted Stefan more. It was all about Stefan, as long as I could remember."

"But do you think that Stefan wanted it to be all about him?" she asks quietly. "He hates that you hate him."

"I don't hate him, April."

"Then you better let him know because he thinks you do."

**/**

"You are falling in love with Damon, aren't you?"

Her eyebrows shoot up. "Seriously, Rebekah? You too?"

"You're my friend, April," her blonde friend smiles. "And to tell you the honest truth. I think he's got a little thing for you too."

Her grunt of annoyance is masked by Rebekah's laughter.

**/**

"Why does love suck?"

The blonde man let out a laugh that was mix of a snort and a groan.

"Don't say that. Not here in Mystic Falls."

"It's true, Matt," April sighs. "We are in love with people that we shouldn't be in love with and they are freaking vampires."

"I am not in love with Rebekah."

"I never said 'Rebekah'."

"Oh, damn."

**/**

"Can you do me a favor, Salvatore?" His head shoots up to see Barbie Klaus looking down on him, her mouth set in a thin line.

"Do I have any choice, barbie girl?"

"Don't be an ass for once," Rebekah snaps, sitting down opposite from in the booth. "I need to know right now I have to tear your heart out or not."

"I'd rather you did not."

"Do you love April?"

Four little words that would change his life forever.

"Rebekah-"

"Damon, answer the question."

"I don't think that is any of your business-"

"Either you will tell me right now or I will-"

"Fine. Yes, I love her."

A true smile crosses Rebekah's lips, showing how beautiful she really is. "Good. Then let her know before she goes out of her mind." She lifts her long minx like body off of the seat and begins to leave. But not before casting one more thing over her shoulder. "Oh, and by the way? If you hurt her, I swear to God you do not want to know what I will do to you."

**/**

_Meet me at the pier.  
__Dress up.  
__-D_

**_/_**

There's nothing but light.

Tiny, golden, fluttering lights are blazing around the bare cherry trees, framed by absolutely beautiful origami flowers. It's unlike anything she has ever seen before in her whole life.

"Damon?"

"Right here."

Turning around, she finds him wearing a suit of black. A tiny yellow rose sits in his button hole, his hair mussed up just the way she likes it. He also wears a smile of warmth...love.

"What's all this?" she asks, her own smile breaking through. "Did you make those?" she adds, gesturing to the origami flowers. He gives her a playful little smile and a tiny shrug of the shoulders.

"You look beautiful," his eyes raking her tiny form. She is clad in a light blue dress, her dark hair pulled into a curled ponytail at the base of her neck, and mother of pearl earrings dangling from her delicate ears.

"You said to dress up."

"Since when do you take orders from me?" this time, he did smirk, lifting an eyebrow.

She rolls her eyes but can't keep the smile off of her face. "I think I can make an allowance once in a while."

He extends an arm to her to which she takes. "Are you ready to light up the world?"

"You bet."

**/**

Who said words were needed? Who said that you had to constantly remind someone that you loved them? Who said that you had to actually tell someone you loved them if they knew it already?

Damon and April didn't let anything get in the way after that. But they didn't need to really tell each other how they felt because they already knew it. There was no reason to get mushy, as Damon would plainly put several times. And then April would slap him.

**/**

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**What would their ship name be? Dapril? Apramon? **

**I do not own Vampire Diaries or Wuthering Heights.**


End file.
